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Friday, February 28, 2014

As I mentioned Tuesday, we went to the Supercross last weekend and it got me thinking about my childhood. We spend quite a few February Saturdays at the Supercross and even more Saturday and Sundays the rest of the year watching my little brother race. And seeing as both my dad and brother race, it was bound to rub on off me. Right?!

Sort of.

I did get the itch for a motorcycle. I wanted one reallllll bad and begged and begged. Finally one year for Christmas, there was a motorcycle under the tree for me, too. Yes, Andrew got one, too, that year. Poor Santa having to drag TWO motorcycles down the chimney.

Guess how many times I rode that baby? Once.
I was in the middle of my intense cheerleading days (at one point I was on FIVE squads so intense is definitely the right word) and couldn't find the time to learn to ride it. Finally, I had a week with no Saturday competition so Dad decided that was the day to teach me to ride. And seeing as it comes so naturally to the males in my family, you'd think I'd jump right on it and zoom away.

Nope.
I pulled the throttle (or turned or twisted or whatever it's called) and immediately stuck my feet straight out and tried to stop myself... without actually letting go of the throttle. Needless to say, my family thought it was hysterical. I made it up and down our driveway once or twice and that was it. Done. Over it. Don't care.

So the point of this story?

Whenever it came up that Andrew rode dirtbikes and how great he was, I always tried to bring up that I "had one too, but I was too busy to really get into the racing part". Yes, that was true - I was really busy with cheerleading and I legitimately did not have time to get into racing. But, I completely made it sound like I rode for fun and would get out there and ride with the boys. False. They would run me over in a heartbeat.

Was this little white lie hurting anybody? No. But what was the point of even saying it? We all do it - slightly embellish the truth to make the story sound better. To make ourselves look better. But, why? Why can't we all just be satisfied with who we are, what we've accomplished, what we're working towards and everything else that makes us us.
But I'm working on it. One of my goals for for this year was to be me:A person I hope to be more like: Me. I want to be more secure in myself. I want to do what I want to do. And not in a selfish way where I'm being whiny and demanding, but in a way where being me, helps everyone else. I've always wanted to be some kind of volunteer, so this year I'll do it. I've always wanted to cook a lot, so this year I'll do it. I've always wanted to be more organized, so this year I'll do it. You get the point. I want to go after my goals and grow and learn and become the best version of myself I've ever been.
So the whole point of this post was remind myself to keep being me. To stop letting other people bring me down. To keep pushing forward and accomplish my goals. So no more little white lies. No more embellishing stories. Just me, all me all the time.

Also, this post kindaaaa makes it sound like I'm just running around lying to everyone all the time. That's not the case. It's more so that I just want to make sure I'm being fully true to myself and I want to be really content with everything going on in my life. I don't want to feel like my life isn't "cool enough".

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I'm sure you've seen it before. It's right after engagement season so there are wedding commercials and advertisements everywhere. Well to be fair, the Facebook ads might be dedicated to me since I'm engaged...

Moving right along.

I really do not like this commercial. Not one bit. I think it's ridiculous. Yes, I get that they're trying to sell the gown but this isn't the way to do it, in my opinion.

I've always loved weddings. I'm a girl who always dreamed about her wedding day being the most perfect day of, like, ever. Like, ever ever. The perfect princess-y day. But these are dreams.

Now that I'm engaged this day is about US. That day in October is a day for us to get up in front of our friends and family to profess our love out loud and promise to spend the rest of our lives making each other happy. It's a day to celebrate with yummy food, tasty drinks and beautiful decorations and scenery. It's a day for everyone who loves us to celebrate our love and wish us luck on a new chapter that we've chosen to embark on together.

It's not MY day it's OUR day. We're starting a marriage, not just hosting a wedding.

I've been stressing over wedding planning and all of the decisions that I need to make quickly and I realize what I need to do is step back, take a deep breath and just make a decision. No matter what decision I make, we will love it and we will still be married come October 19 at 4 pm. And we will still be starting a new chapter and husband and wife. AND OMG I LOVE SAYING THAT :)

And another side note - I actually tried on a few dresses from David's Bridal in October and the saleswoman has been harassing me ever since. I never answer my phone. ever. so I've just been getting a ton on voicemails from her checking on my "dress hunt". Honey, I bought that dress in November, back off.

Oh you wanted to see one of those dresses? Well here ya go!

And yes, I do plan on writing about my actual wedding dress and the whole process of me finally saying yes to one!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

As I mentioned Friday, Christian and I headed home to Georgia for the weekend. We were up early(ish) Friday morning and arrived in Athens around 1:30. We hung out with my family for a few hours before we met up with sweet Kristin for frozen yogurt after she got off work. My preferred frozen yogurt has chocolate/cake batter froyo with chocolate chip cookie dough, Oreos, Butterfinger pieces and cheesecake. My mouth is just watering thinking about it...

After ice cream, we met up with my parents at Longhorn's. Sadly, I wolfed down my steak and potato too fast to get a picture and I'm sure you guys are thankful for that since it's almost lunch time. It's also sad how much I love steak. After dinner we hung out with family some more and the animals before heading to bed early because we're grandparents.

Saturday Christian wanted to sleep in and my parents had to work so I fit in some quality ABC Family movie time before dragging him across town to eat at my favorite Japanese restaurant. Inoko's started out as your typical Japanese steakhouse where they cook in front of you but then they opened the quick style about 10 minutes from the house I grew up in. I had a friend who worked there, too. So, needless to say, I'm obsesses. They have the most magical "yellow sauce" that's a million times better than shrimp sauce.

After lunch, we picked up some coffee beans from Jittery Joes where I worked in high school. It's only in Georgia and one or two cities in Tennessee so we have to stock up while we're home!

Once my parents were off work, we headed to Atlanta for the whole reason we were in Georgia: the Supercross.

My family is a motorcycle family. I grew up with my dad a racing and my brother started racing when he was 5 years old so it kind of consumes our lives and this is their favorite thing to do every year! I personally love the people watching. Rednecks everywhere.

Yes, that's me drinking a Budweiser and eating cotton candy. I also had popcorn, Dippin' Dots and a giant pretzel. They were making fun of me, but you only get those kinds of food at big events like this!

The section we were in wasn't quite as bad as I'm used to but there were still some scary things. The one that really stuck out to me was a girl as we were leaving: crunchy curly hair where it looks wet, white blonde roots, orange (supposed to be blonde) in the middle and jet black tips... All while wearing the tightest hip hugger flared pants with a thong hanging out, shirt too short and too tight and no jacket.. in February..

Traffic leaving Atlanta was HORRENDOUS and we didn't get home until close to 1 am and it was straight to bed for the grandparents again. The whole house slept in late before I dragged them all out to lunch with me to get some Barberitos. If you've never had it, I'm sorry. It knocks Moe's and Chipotle out of the water #sorrynotsorry

I also had to watch my little brother ride a street bike... Watching him riding the biggest dirt bike made is already hard enough and then I have to watch him ride a street bike with OTHER CARS on the road who drive like maniacs was a struggle.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Can we call this week a wash in bloglandia for me? Because that was just pathetic. ONE post?! Rough. This was my first week working 9:30a - 8:30p and it kicked my butt! Last week I was supposed to start it, but we got those awesome snow days so I predict it'll be another week or too before I'm fully adjusted. Please bear with me!

BUT I do have some fun stuff to share this Friday!

one // Zuko did some cute things this week. The best was Tuesday when we had some kitty visitors visit on the back porch. I went outside because of courseI wanted to pet them. Zuko did not think that was acceptable so he stood on the windowsill meowing at me like I was killing him. He then stared them down while they ate some food I put out for them and considering trying to pounce through the windows.

And as I'm typing this he's chasing his tail, slamming into the hall closet door and running into the door stopper and scaring himself. It's cute, I swear.

He also likes to take over Christian's spot the second he leaves for work around 6:40am and this is what greets me when I wake up.

And finally, these two.

two // I got to go Uptown last night! MY sweet, sweet friend's dad was diagnosed with ALS about 3 years ago and her family has thrown themselves head first into the ALS association with raising money for research and we've all been doing the ALS walk in Charlotte every year.

I adore this family.

Last night was the ALS Walk Kick Off at Heist Brewery in NoDa. Sam even spoke and it was absolutely heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time to hear her speech.

iPhone picture.. but you get it. It's gorgeous.

three // This. Weather. Last week, we're snowed in and I can't leave my apartment for 3 days, and this week we're in the high 70s! I adore snow and winter, but I also like temperatures in the 60-70s so I can wear dresses and short sleeves! And I was also able to sit outside on my lunch break this week!

four // I have a three day weekend! For Christmas, my parents gave us tickets to the Supercross in Atlanta and it's finally here! We're driving down tomorrow morning and the Supercross is Saturday night! I'm looking forward to yummy meals and great family time!five // I also get to see one of my best friends!! We were friends in high school and she graduated a year before me and headed up to Boone. She's the one who actually introduced Christian and I in Boone! I haven't seen her since I bought my wedding dress in November so I'm more than ready for a few hours over frozen yogurt with her tomorrow!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Y'all. Now that I work on Mondays I find it extremely difficult to blog on Mondays. Mainly because I don't get home from work until 9:30ish on Sundays and then have to be back at 9:30a Monday. It leaves little time for blogging because I prefer to spend that time cuddling with my boys.

This was Saturday afternoon, but it's still really cute of those two napping together.

Now, onward. I've always thought Christian was the funniest guy, ever. Why else would I be with him?! But, recently, he's just been killing it with his comments. So, today, I thought I would share some of them with you. If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen these before and I'm sure will see more in the future!

1. Driving in the car discussing "appropriate" times to have kids and how rude it is when people ask when you're going to have kids once you get married.

It's fine if other people have kids because if they suck, I can just get in my car and drive away. But, that's frowned upon when they're yours.

2. On a Saturday night after playing a game of Life.

Oh thank god it's 9 o'clock. That's an acceptable bed time.

3. Completely out of nowhere while laying in bed.

DAMMIT!

What??

I just keep thinking of you having a baby and talking with a stupid baby voice all the time. Ugh.

4. Last night after I get into bed.

Do you put something on?

Uh, like what?

Like lotion.. or soap.

No, I didn't put on soap..

Well it smells like you did.. It almost smells like we have the candle lit.. but it's not...

The candle is pretty strong so you're probably just getting a whiff of that.

That's never happened before.. it's not like my sense of smell magically just got better. OH NO LESLIE. I'M PREGNANT.

5. Again last night as I was falling asleep. He's working from home today and I'm off so I slept in.

Wanna wake up and go get us coffee from Einstein in the morning?

Why would I do that?!

Because you loooooove meeee.

Not thaaaattt muchhhh.

6. Laying in bed harassing him after he got home from California on Friday.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

YOU GUYS. I had a snow day yesterday. And I'm hoping for another one today. As I'm writing this we just received an e-mail saying we'll open at 2p and we're all betting that they won't actually open. Charlotte just isn't prepared and I think it's safer to keep all the Southerners off the roads and safe at home until the ice has melted enough.

My friend works at Target in Athens and this was from Tuesday night.

Tuesday was my day off so I prepped the apartment just in case I was stuck in here and got myself some Panera bagels, Hot Pockets, Cheez Its and Ben and Jerrys. The essentials, you know.

Sadly, I wasn't able to spend my snow day like I'm used to in Boone with Christian, drinking beers and doing slightly unsafe things in the snow (such as sledding while inebriated). He's in San Diego all week and I am SO ready for him to be home.

Zuko and I did have a pretty nice snow day on our own though. And I'm going to walk you through the whole day because I know that's what you wanted to read about today - especially if you didn't have a snow day yesterday ;)

I knew we were going to hear about whether we had to be in around 6 am and apparently my body was prepared and woke me up right at 6:15am just in time to see the text from work saying we would be closed and I turned my alarm off and went right back to sleep!

Once I decided I was actually going to wake up, I toasted myself an asiago bagel. And boy am I glad I went ahead and ordered 4 instead of just one because I definitely finished off two of those babies yesterday.

I then spent a few lovely hours laying in bed, reading on my tablet and watching HGTV. And after Zuko spent a few crazy minutes sprinting around the apartment, jumping into windows and meowing, I caved and opened the bedroom curtains and blinds so we could both watch the snow all day.

"MOM THERE WEIRD WHITE STUFF OUT THERE"

We had a few bagels, some Cheez Its, some Half Baked Ben and Jerry's and a Hot Pocket before I decided to actually get up and shower. So, yes at 5 pm on a Wednesday, I essentially got out of bed for the first time and showered. Let's all be so proud.

After that lovely shower, we actually migrated to the living room where I may or may not have watched some more HGTV before turning to my good friend Netflix for chick flicks that Christian won't watch with me.

My choice: What to Expect When You're Expecting. Yes, it was funny. Yes, Christian would have hated it. But good grief, I wasn't expecting to cry THREE times. Yes, THREE. It hit me straight in the ovaries. Multiple times. It was a little ridiculous.

This was mid day and it kept up through most of the day and night.

After a phone chat with my man, I headed back to bed with The Big Bang Theory and my book and proceeded to stay up much later than I should because my pure laziness made my not want to sleep at all. So that's great for work.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

I've never really been a fan of Valentine's Day. Not for any particular reason, either, really. I've just never really cared. But, Christian and I have always made a point to spend it together since we've been together.

In 2011, we had been dating about 4 months and I did not want to put any pressure on him, so I didn't really mentioned it. He showed up at my apartment that night with a case of beer, two bottles of wine and two sub sandwiches. Then, he let me pick the cheesy chick flick we got to watch that night.

The next two years followed pretty much the same path: take out, some drinks and a movie of my choice. But, we added in an extra step the last few years: a couples massage.

Literally, one of the best decisions we've ever made. A spa in Boone always offered an amazing deal in February and we made sure to use it! I had only had one massage before and Christian had never had one so it was wonderful to treat ourselves like that!

This year, Christian is out of town all week so we are planning to celebrate Saturday instead since he won't be home until late Friday. And I expect the plan will follow right along with the last 3 years... especially the couples massage part because I seriouslyyy need some relaxation!

The point of this really pointless post is that you don't need some big fancy shmancy dinner, presents, etc to have a phenomenal Valentine's. I have absolutely loved every single one and have no plans to ask him if we can do anything else. Yes, I'm sure it's nice to get all dressed up and do something special, but we are not fans of crowds and all the hooplah that goes with it.

So why put ourselves through the whole charade if we both know that neither one is really loving it. I would rather pamper ourselves with a massage (obviously no one else will be there) and take out and get to spend some serious quality time together.

My advice to everyone this weekend is to do exactly what you want to do with exactly who you want to do it with. If you want to have a girls night in with chick flicks and cookie dough - do it. If you want to have a fancy dinner with your significant other - go for it. Valentine's Day should be a day to do something that you love and with someone you love cheese ball alert.

And since this post is lacking in pictures and you probably don't want to see a picture of Christian and I sitting on the couch in our sweatpants and I'm going to embarrass myself and some great friends by sharing some pictures from a Girls Night In/Out in 2008. Enjoy...

I haven't even hit publish and I'm already embarrassed. But, hey, they're on Facebook so the whole world can already see them!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Yesterday I started my new schedule at work and since I work until 9p on Sundays and then have to be back at 9:30a on Monday, I had to force myself to go to bed early which I no longer have any idea how to do unfortunately. Therefore, it left little time for blogging. Once I get into a routine, I'm sure I'll get back to scheduling posts the night before but give me a week to get used to it!

I'm now off on Tuesdays, though, and Christian is out of town this week so I plan to take full advantage of it and get some blog posts scheduled!

For today, you're getting some life snippets of things I've been up to the last few days!

And to start us off, we've got Zuko being a spoiled kitty. Alexa pointed out that he suffers from the same disorder her sweet Bug has: I Run Sh!t Syndrome. This is completely true. It's his world and we're just living in it.

Thursday night I ended up coming home from work a little bit early and got to have dinner with my man. I was craving Zaxby's and the closest one is a solid 20 minutes away but we made the decision and off we went to get some yumminess in my tummy!

And now I'm drooling all over again

Friday I had something exciting happen that I really hope I get to go into detail with you guys pretty soon! But I'll give you a hint...

An elevator selfie is always an awkward decision.

Friday night we had dinner with our wonderful friends Sam and Jeremy and he made a yummy casserole and we had such a fun night just laughing and joking around with each other. We're so lucky to have such great friends that live so close, too!

Saturday I had the rest of my hair appointment with Alchemy! I know that sounds weird but 2 weeks ago I did a perm and color so I need to do a treatment and cut this week to keep it healthy and looking great so I can keep growing it out for the wedding!

I'm barely wearing make up, I apologize.

Christian's sister moved into an awesome apartment in South End on Saturday so after my hair appointment, I headed right to her apartment and we all went out to lunch with their parents! I finally got to try Mac's Speed Shop which is an awesome BBQ place and it was delicious!

Saturday night Christian and I planned to just hang out together since he's gone all week. He tried to get into bed at about 7pm so I convinced him to play Life with me. We had pretty much forgotten how to play and actually had to read the instructions. We felt so cool, lemme tell ya.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

My workplace now has no real "dress code". I wear jeans and boots most days. I do try to dress up a smidge during the week with nice sweaters, etc. Sundays are always reserved for t-shirts and yoga pants, though, since there aren't many people there and it's slow. Anyways, towards the end of college and since graduation, I've tried to grow my "professional" wardrobe little by little.

Since I'll hopefully be going on some job interviews soon with one of the turning into a new job, I've been scouring Pinterest for some new outfits to wear to work once I have a real dress code to follow and I now have an entire board dedicated to work outfits.

Here are some outfits I'm currently lusting over. And most of them are full of color because I hate the idea that all professional clothing needs to be black, gray and brown to look professional.

This one is so classy. Perfect for a big meeting or even a great first day of work outfit. And it's a perfect outfit for those cold days we've been having.

I actually try to stay away from yellow because it doesn't really flatter me. But, I feel like putting yellow on the bottom instead of wearing it close to my face, would be much easier to work and I'm just loving this yellow and purple combination!

Honestly, my dream dress. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Again, loving the yellow on the bottom. And YES with the red shoes. I love mixing colors like this and I've always loved red and yellow together for some reason.

What a great Spring outfit! That skirt is phenomenal. As is the top and shoes. I want this right now.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

After yesterday's depressing post, I'm back today highlighting some happy things going on in my life and around us!

First, I actually have some good news regarding work! I've been working 1p until midnight Tuesday-Thursday since JUNE. And Sunday 10a-9p. When we start there, we're told that we're supposed to slowly get better schedules as time passes and I've been promised a better schedule a probably 10 or 12 times and I've never actually gotten one.Finally, yesterday I was called in to meet with the "man in charge of schedules" and he kept my Friday and Saturday off (which is needed for my sanity) and traded my Monday for Tuesday off. AND he made my days on, earlier. So I'm working 9:30am to 8:30pm which means I will get to see Christian every. single. day. of the week. This is even more needed for my sanity so that was quite a relief.

Anyways, on to real happies for everyone.

one // This. I've written a post before about people telling me I'm too young to get married and this writer nails it on the head. Seriously. Getting married does not mean we have stopped growing or reached our "end goals". We're here to support each other and make each other better. We can't help when we fall in love, we just do. And if I know I want to marry someone, why wait around?two // Basically.

four // Valentine's Day is coming, friends. Whether or not you're single or in a relationship, I suggest everyone use it as an excuse to pamper yourself. If you're single, have a girls day of manis/pedis, wine, cheesecake, whatever! Christian and I usually spend actual V-day being lazy as all get out with take out and movies and plan a nice couples massage the day after!five // Zuko. I meannnn I have the cutest kitty on the planet.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

I've been popping in and out of here (and my other social media accounts, as well) very sporadically over the last week or so because my mind is just a mess. I lay down at night with great ideas for a few blog posts and then I just have no follow through during the day.

And Friday was a great example of why. It had been a crazy week at work since it was the end of the month plus the "snow" we had which led to issues with getting to and from work which just added to the end of the month stress. I woke up really cranky. I was just awful. I was barely speaking to Christian, I didn't want to talk to anyone and I obviously didn't show my face around here, either. It was bad.

We ran a few errands sporadically throughout the day when Christian had lulls in his work and even the ones I needed and wanted to do, I was cranky and mean while we were out. He was trying really hard to be nice and not snap back at me and he honestly did a great job being patient with me. Finally, after hours of me just being a complete brat, he sat me down and made me tell him what the heckwas going on and why I was being so awful.

Cue the waterworks.
Seriously, I laid on the bed and cried without saying a word for 10 or 15 minutes, probably. Christian used to get seriously stressed out when I cried when we first started dating, but he's definitely calmed down and handled it like a champ.

Once I finally admitted everything that was stressing me out and why I was so upset, he did a great job of calming me down. He reassured me that everything was going to be okay and I didn't need to get myself this worked up over it all. I am so lucky that I have him to stand by me through life and get me through all the tough times.

Once I had some time to think over everything he said and why I was upset, I also got pretty annoyed with myself. Yes, there are things in life that could be much better right now (ahem, my job). But, I've always tried to look past small negative things in my life and remember all the great things I have. Yet, here I am crying over my job, being mean to my fiancé and just being unhappy every single day because of something so small.

I'm constantly begging Christian to let me quit my job (even though there's no way we could ever afford this right now) and just being negative. Every day I'm set to go into work, I'm cranky and mean. While I'm there, I'm not the nicest person. I try to find any way possible to leave early, get off the phones, etc. I get bitter because everyone around me loves their job and is great at it.

This is one thing in my life and I'm letting it completely take me over. My job isn't my life and there are plenty of people who don't love their jobs. I always thought I would be one of those people who love their jobs, but I'm not and I need to get over it. I know you guys have read about my job woes plenty of times and that just proves that I'm letting something completely take me over.

So, today I'm trying to start over and take a moment every day to remember the wonderful things that I have to be thankful for:

I live in a beautiful apartment with the most perfect fiancé and cutest little kitty. I'm planning a beautiful wedding to that perfect man. I have wonderful friends who support me no matter what. I have an amazing family that I get to see in a few weeks. And I fully believe that what is meant to happen, will. If I'm meant to find a new job, it will appear and they will want to hire me.

Well, I know this wasn't the happiest post in the world, but maybe putting it out there for you guys to read will help keep me accountable and stop me from getting so stressed out and down on myself.